


Boy/Girl Next Door

by properlyreal (midnightghostwriter)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Apartment AU, F/M, possible future smut, whouffle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:39:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2539754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightghostwriter/pseuds/properlyreal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The various (mis)adventures of Clara Oswald and her neighbor John Smith.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boy/Girl Next Door

Clara Oswald is twenty-five years old and pursuing a career in teaching secondary students the finer points of literature. She stands at an unimpressive five-feet-two-inches but carries herself with the authority of a six-foot model. Not that he was really looking, he amends, when his best mate Amy demands details about his new neighbor.

John Smith is a twelve year old trapped in a man's body who works in a toy repair shop. He looms over her at nearly six feet in a way that is anything but intimidating. His fashion sense could use some work, too. Or so she tells her flat mate Martha when the other asks her opinion of him.

It is a late summer day when they first meet. And the first thing John becomes acquainted with as he arrives on the eleventh floor is the back of her head and the swish of her ponytail. She and another girl are lugging boxes into the flat next to his from a pile crowding the hall. She returns for another and it's abundantly clear they won't finish anytime soon at this rate. As she struggles with another box, it's lifted from her arms. She stares at him, startled, her lips parted in a delicate "O" of surprise.

"Sorry - need a hand?" She recovers herself and smiles gratefully.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." He disappears inside and she hefts another box to follow after him.

The two bedroom, one bath place that will become their home is quite similar to his own while still devoid of furniture and still-packed boxes hide in the corners. He's given very little direction on where things go, but it turns out he doesn't need it aside from asking which room is whose. The boxes and furniture are shuffled in from the hall much more quickly with his help and the efforts are rewarded with offers to dig out the necessary supplies for tea.

"I could always grab mine instead," he proposes and is met with confused stares. He realizes that they don't know who he is. "Oh, right, um, I live next door. John Smith." The shorter one gives him a look like she doesn't believe that's his name while her flatmate smiles and says that'd be great, thank you John. He smiles, somewhat nervously, and slips out their door to his own flat.

When he heads into the kitchen, he realizes the shorter one with the funny nose and the weird faces has followed him in. Normally he'd be bothered by someone just sort of appearing in his sitting room, but he finds he isn't. He gestures to the room at large. "Welcome to my humble abode," he says, pretending at being grandiose for the sake of being impressive. She gives him a look that speaks to the exact opposite of impressed and he hides injured pride behind a cupboard door as he begins pulling a kettle and other needed supplies from the kitchen.

"It's smaller on the outside," she remarks simply, surprising him. He leans around the wall separating them to frown at her.

"Of course it isn't. Just feels that way, with the lighting and all." She shrugs in response.

"It's nice." He's not sure what to make of her tone so he just smiles appreciatively and leads the way back to her flat.

Tea at Martha and Clara's (the nice one and the short one, respectively) flat is a quiet, and slightly awkward affair, as it turns out John doesn't know how to do anything but ramble to fill the silence, Clara doesn't seem to have much to say, and Martha just doesn't know what. But it isn’t entirely unpleasant, and they’re the first people to really try and be at least somewhat social in this building, so he takes what he can get. He could use more friends besides Amy.


End file.
